Baca

Status

The progenitors of the Baca family of 17th-century New Mexico were Cristóbal Baca and Ana Ortiz. We know from primary sources that Cristóbal Baca was born circa 1567 in Mexico City and was a son of Juan Vaca. There is yet no record found that provides the name of Cristóbal's mother or any of his siblings or other relatives.

We know from a single primary source that Ana Ortiz was a native of Mexico City and a daughter of Francisco Pacheco. The name of her mother remains unknown.

Cristóbal Baca and Ana Ortiz were already married by 1590 (see below for details), and they were possibly married as early as 1585 or 1586, based on the age given by their daughter, doña Isabel de Bohórquez, indicating an estimated year of birth for her as 1586. A marriage record of Cristóbal Baca and Ana Ortiz still needs to be sought.

The daughters of Cristóbal Baca and Ana Ortiz use the surnames of Zamora, Bohórquez and Villanueva, which are important clues for additional genealogical research.

The Villanueva and Ortiz surnames also also found in the family of Juan López Holguín (a native of Fuente Ovejuna in Spain) and Catalina de Villanueva, whose two daughter were Ana Ortiz and María Ortiz. Could Catalina de Villanueva and Ana Ortiz, wife of Cristóbal Baca have been related?

We know from documentation that Catalina de Villanueva was a daughter of Juan López and doña Ana de Florencia. There is currently no additional information known about her parents. The given name of Ana is curious. Could doña Ana de Florencia have also been married with Francisco Pacheco, or could doña Ana de Florencia been a sister of either Francisco Pacheco or his unknown wife, the mother of Ana Ortiz? Additional research is needed to help answer this question.

Based on research by José Antonio Esquibel, we know that in March 1596, “Cristobal Vaca” was identified as a maestro pasamanero y orillero by trade and entered into a contract to train Diego Rodríguez, son of a widow named Isabel Rodríguez.³⁴ Baca agreed to instruct Rodríguez in the skills of passamenterie work and working in gold thread for a period of a year. During that time, Rodriguez would reside in the household of Baca.

As a maestro pasamanero, Baca was a member of a guild and recognized as a master in the art of making elaborate fringe braided trimmings for clothing and making cords and embroidered cloth with gold thread for clothing and furniture. The cofradía of the pasamenaeros y orilleros honored Santo Ángel Custodio and was based in the church of Santo Domingo in Mexico City with a feast day celebration of October 2.

Ana Ortiz and Cristóbal Baca were already married by September 1590 and residing in Mexico City. On September 9^th of that year, Ana Ortiz, described as a vecina (taxpaying citizen) of Mexico City, granted power of attorney to her husband, “Cristóbal Vaca,” to collect 300 persos de oro común from the estate of Diego Pacheco, a resident of the city of Puebla de los Ángeles, as promised by Pacheco to Baca on the day her marriage with Baca (researched by José Antonio Esquibel).

We know from a single record that Ana Ortiz was a native of Mexico City and a daughter of a man Francisco Pacheco. Diego Pacheco was apparently a close relative of Ana Ortiz, perhaps her brother or an uncle who may have also served as her guardian, thus it was his duty to provide the dowry upon her marriage. It may very well be that Cristóbal Baca and Ana Ortiz were married sometime in the first half of the year 1590.

Additional research is needed to determine the familial relationship between Ana Ortiz and Diego Pacheco. This will entail researching records of Mexico City and Puebla de los Ángeles related to the latter half of the sixteenth-century.

There is erroneous information that identifies Ana Ortiz as a daughter of don Francisco Pacheco de Córdoba y Bocanegra and doña Juana de la Cueva Colón. This relationship is based on faulty genealogy. Don Francisco Pacheco de Córdoba y Bocanegra was born circa 1573 and married doña Juana de la Cueva y Colón circa 1600-1601 and their oldest child, don Carlos, was baptize on April 24, 1602.

The father of Ana Ortiz was a different man named Francisco Pacheco.

The daughters of Cristóbal Baca and Ana Ortiz use the surnames of Zamora, Bohórquez and Villanueva, which are important clues for additional genealogical research.

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Baca-Zamora Lead

The fact that Juana used the surname of Zamora suggests that one of her grandmothers was a Zamora and that Juana was very probably a namesake of one of these grandmothers. It is also known that her father, Cristóbal, was a son of Juan Vaca.

The following three intriguing records were extracted from baptismal records of the

Catedral de México (Asunción Church), Mexico City:

• Baptized 19 November 1562, Ana, daughter of Juan Baca and of Juana de Çamora [Zamora]; Padrinos: Fernando de Aguilar, Juana Ynés Maldonado and Rodrigo Bezerro.

• Baptized 17 February 1573, Alonso, son of Juan Vaca and of Juana de Samora; Padrinos: Antonio de Pineda y María de Vergara.

• Baptized 1 November 1576, Lucas, son of Juan Baca and of Juana de Zamora; Padrinos: Francisco Ydalgo y Mariana Rangel.

It may turn out that Juan Vaca (Baca) and Juana de Zamora were the parents of Capitán Cristóbal Baca. Curiously, Cristóbal Baca’s grandson was named Alonso Baca. Could he have been a namesake of a great-uncle? Additional research may help to confirm this genealogical connection.

It can be assumed that Juan Vaca and Juana de Zamora were married circa 1560 in Mexico City.

Researchers: Sephardic Legacy Project of New Mexico—Stanley M. Hordes, Richard Salazar, and Robert D. Martínez. Summary by Robert D. Martínez

Sources: LDS microfilm 0035167, Archivo de la Parroquia del Sagrario Metropolitano de Mexico, Mexico City, Bautismos de Españoles, 1536 - 1589.

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Could the following couple, Cristóbal Vaca and Mayor Díaz, be the parents of Juan Vaca, married to Juana de Zamora circa 1560 (possible parents of New Mexico’s Cristobal Baca, and this named for his grandfather)?

7 enero 1540 Baltazar, hijo de Xp<to>bal Vaca y de Mayor Diaz, padrinos Andres Perez y Leonor Hernandez, su muger, y Juan Nunez y Ayala y su muger Miguela de Torquemada

Researcher: Robert D. Martínez

Source: LDS microfilm #0035167, Archivo de la Parroquia del Sagrario Metropolitano de Mexico, Mexico City, Bautismos de Españoles, 1536 - 1589.

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Baca-Moreno de Lara

Information from a prenuptial investigation record shows that Cristóbal Baca (married with Ana Moreno de Lara; ONMF: 10) and Ignacio Baca (married with Juana de Anaya; ONMF: 10-11 & 141) were brothers. It was incorrectly presumed that this Ignacio Baca was a son of Cristóbal Baca, but the following information from a diligencia matrimonial dated 1766 provides different evidence:

4^th degree consanguinity (3^rd cousins) between Cristóbal Montoya, son of Diego Antonio Montoya and María Magdalena Baca, and Margarita Lucero, daughter of Miguel Lucero and Nicolasa González:

Ignacio Baca siblings Cristóbal Baca

Margarita Baca 1^st cousins Manuel Baca

Miguel Lucero 2^nd cousins María Magdalena Baca

Margarita Lucero 3^rd cousins Cristóbal Montoya

Margarita Baca, wife of Diego Lucero de Godoy, was a known daughter of Ignacio Baca and doña Juana de Anaya Almazán. Her cousin Manuel Baca, married with María de Salazar, was a known son of Cristóbal Baca and doña Ana Moreno de Lara.

Additional information confirms that the famous Juana Baca (ONMF: 144) was actually a daughter of Cristóbal Baca and doña Ana Moreno de Lara and not a daughter of Manual Baca and María de Salazar as previously presumed. This Juana Baca was also the progenitor of the Luna family of New Mexico. Her age was given as eighteen when she was listed in her mother's household in the December 1692-January 1693 census of families at El Paso willing to return to northern New Mexico. In contrast, there is no listing for a daughter named Juana in the household of Manuel Baca and María de Salazar. This census, and that of 1697, is useful in identifying additional children of the Baca family.

The following lineage documents the 4^th degree of consanguinity (3^rd cousins) between Eusebio de Luna and María de la Luz Lucero:

1^st degree: Miguel de San Juan de Luna and Juana Baca [the younger]

2^nd degree: Joaquín de Luna and Antonia Chaves

3^rd degree: Bernardo de Luna and Rosalía Abeytia

4^th degree: Eusebio de Luna and María de la Luz Lucero

Juana Baca, "the younger," was married with Francisco Durán y Chaves (ONMF: 162). She was a known daughter of Juana Baca "the elder" (ONMF: 144 & 162).

Miguel de San Juan de Luna finds mention in ONMF: 283 as the husband of Isabel Montoya and the father of Margarita de Luna. From the above information it is clear that Joaquín de Luna was a son of Miguel de San Juan de Luna, and thus not a son of Antonio de Luna (ONMF: 214).

A valuable work to consult regarding this branch of the Luna family is The Other Luna Family by Margaret Buxton.

Researchers: Margaret Buxton and José Antonio Esquibel

Sources: Chávez, "New Mexico Roots, Ltd.": 1279, DM 1766 (no. 21), Albuquerque; Hendricks and Colligan, New Mexico Prenuptial Investigations From the Archivos Históricos del Arzobispado de Durango, 1760-1799, Rio Grande Historical Collections, New Mexico State University Library, 1996: 128 (AHAD-98, f. 598-601, 1766, Albuquerque); Margaret Buxton, The Other Luna Family (18pp. + appendices and charts; copy available at the Albuquerque Public Library Special Collections/Genealogy Library).

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Baltasar Baca (ONMF: 145) and Manuela Rael de Aguilar were the parents of these two additional sons not accounted for in Origins of New Mexico Families: José de la Cruz Baca, español, baptized 19 September 1739, Isleta; and Antonio Dionisio Baca, español, baptized 23 January 1740, Isleta. Both of these sons may have died young, since they were not mentioned in the last will of Manuela Rael de Aguilar.

José Baca (ONMF: 144) and Josefa Gallegos had this other son who was not mentioned in the last will of José Baca: Juan Domingo Baca, baptized 11 November 1739, Isleta. The child’s padrinos were Gregorio Jaramillo and Francisca (no surname given).

Researcher: Yolanda Romero Chávez

Source: Archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, Roll 5, Isleta Church, Baptisms 1730-1776.

Isabel Baca, Mestiza

There was a mestiza woman named Isabel Baca residing in the Rio Abajo region of New Mexico in the middle of the 1600s. There is no documentation yet found that identifies her parents, so it is not clear how she may have been related to the members of the Baca-Ortiz family.

From just a few records, as shown below, we know just a few more things about here beyond what is found in ONMF (page 99).

Isabel Baca was referred to as a widow, but no record of the name of her husband has yet been found. There is reference to an unnamed sister of her and that Isabel had a son named Pedro by a Franciscan priest named fray Fernando de Velasco and that she had a daughter married by 1663 with Antonio de Avalos. We also now know Isabel was a native of the Pueblo of Santo Domingo, which connects her to the Keres tribe of Pueblo Indians. Fray Angelico Chávez, surmised that Isabel was the wife and widow of Juan Ruiz de Caceres, although there is no record that specifically identifies this man as her husband.

Here are four known records regarding Isabel Baca.

Record #1: In April 1663, Ysabel Baca was identified as being a mestiza, indicating she had one parent that was Español and one that was an Indian. Source: Archivo General de la Nación, México, Inquisición, tomo 587, Proceso contra Don Bernardo López de Mendizábal, Gobernador de Nuevo México, por Proposiones Heréticas, folio 201v.

Record #2: On June 18, 1662, Isabel Baca provided testimony at the Pueblo de Santo Domingo in the case of the Inquisition against Captain Nicolás de Aguilar. She was described as "una muger de estado viuda," a widow, and she declared that she was "natural de este pueblo de Santo Domingo, vecina de la jurisdiccion de Taxique en las Salinas de edad que dixo ser cinquenta años poco mas o menos," "native of this Pueblo of Santo Domingo, taxpaying citizen of the jurisdiction of Tajique in Las Salinas, saying that she is 50 years of age, a little more or less." She did not know how to sign her name. From this source we learn that Isabel Baca was born at Santo Domingo. In all likelihood her father as an Español (possibly a Baca man) and her mother was very likely an Indian woman living at the Pueblo of Santo Domingo. Source: AGN, Inquisición, t. 512, f. 7r, Testimonio de Isabel Baca, June 18, 1662, Santo Domingo, Proceso contra Don Bernardo López de Mendizábal, Gobernador de Nuevo México, por Proposiones Heréticas.

Record #3: Here's some new information not previously published, as far as I know. According to Captain Nicolás de Aguilar from testimony recorded while he was a prisoner ofteh Inquisition in Mexico City in October 1663, Ysabel Baca was a cook for the Franciscan friars at the convento of the Pueblo of Tajique and she had son named Pedro whose father was fray Fernando de Velasco, "la dicha muger [Ysabel Baca] criada un muchacho llamado Pedro hijo del dicho Fray Fernando de Velasco, el qual decia que el dicho Ysabel Baca era su cuñada por que havia tenido amistad illicita con una hermana suia y por otra parte es comadre del dicho fraile por haver sacado de pila a una hija del dicho Fray Fernando de Velasco," "The said woman [Ysabel Baca] gave birth to a boy named Pedro, son of the said fray Fernando de Velasco, he who had said that the said Ysabel Baca was his sister-in-law because he had had a illicit affair with a sister of hers and by another part she is the comadre of the said friar because she was the godparent by baptism of a daughter of the said fray Fernando de Velasco." So, according to this testimony, Ysabel Baca had a son named Pedro (surname unknown) by a Franciscan friar (not an uncommon circumstance in 17th-century New Mexico). Fray Fernando de Velasco was the guardian at Tajique Pueblo where Ysabel Baca was a cook. In addition, we learn that Ysabel had a sister, whose name remains unknown, and this sister had a sexual relationship with fray Fernando de Velasco. In addition, Ysabel was the godmother of a daughter of fray Fernando. Source: AGN, Inquisición, t. 512, f. 130r, Audiencia y Testimonio de Capitan Nicolás de Aguilar, October 22, 1663, Mexico City

Record #4: On Janury 18, 1664, Captain Nicolás de Aguilar, provided testimony while still in prison in Mexico City and mentioned "Antonio de Avalos, hierno de Ysabel Baca [Isabel Baca], que es la muger que fue a guisan de comer, o su hijo Xptoval [Cristobal], que nunca los suso dichos salen del conbento," “Antonio de Avalos, son-in-law of Ysabel Baca, who is the woman that went to prepare food, or his son Cristobal, [and] these said people never left the convento." This is the source that identified Ysabel as the mother-in-law of Antonio de Avalos. Source: AGN, Inquisición, t. 512, f. 156r, Audiencia del Capitán Nicolás de Aguilar, January 18, 1664, Mexico City.

These are the only known accounts of Ysabel Baca. Any addition records that are found will be added to this account.

Researcher: José Antonio Esquibel